Study shows that U.S. economy does better under Democratic presidents

Tuesday

Jul 29, 2014 at 6:20 PM

Don’t share THIS with your Republican friends. It will only confuse them:

For the past half-century, the US economy has consistently grown faster under Democratic presidents than under Republican ones. And in a new study, two economists ask whether there’s a reason for that — or if it’s all just a coincidence.

The numbers are pretty clear on this. Between 1947 and 2012, the US economy grew at an average real annual rate of 4.35 percent during Democratic administrations and just 2.54 percent during Republican ones.

The gap persists even if you give presidents less credit for the period immediately after taking office or if you remove the outlier years at the high and low end (like the financial crisis at the end of George W. Bush’s second term) or if you fiddle with the dating of recessions. And the difference is statistically significant.

Don’t share THIS with your Republican friends. It will only confuse them:

For the past half-century, the US economy has consistently grown faster under Democratic presidents than under Republican ones. And in a new study, two economists ask whether there’s a reason for that — or if it’s all just a coincidence.

The numbers are pretty clear on this. Between 1947 and 2012, the US economy grew at an average real annual rate of 4.35 percent during Democratic administrations and just 2.54 percent during Republican ones.

The gap persists even if you give presidents less credit for the period immediately after taking office or if you remove the outlier years at the high and low end (like the financial crisis at the end of George W. Bush’s second term) or if you fiddle with the dating of recessions. And the difference is statistically significant.